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Oakland Museum of California
www.museumca.org

10TH & OAK STREETS
OAKLAND, CA  94607

For additional information:
Elizabeth Whipple
510/238-4740, M-F, MEDIA ONLY
PUBLIC CALLS: 510/238-2200
ewhipple@museumca.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Exhibition dates: May 6–August 20, 2006

BEHIND THE MAGIC—50 YEARS OF DISNEYLAND®
A Timeline of Disneyland History

1939 Walt Disney attends the Golden Gate Exposition in San Francisco, where he first encounters three-dimensional miniature scenes.

1940 Visits Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan, and shows great interest in everything mechanical.

During this decade, Walt Disney sets aside his Saturdays as “Daddy Day,” taking his two daughters to area amusement parks for entertainment. He is struck by the deteriorated state of the parks he visits and the impression that the adults weren’t having much fun.

1948 Travels to the Railroad Fair in Chicago with animator Ward Kimball. Takes a side trip to Dearborn to see Greenfield Village again and Henry Ford Museum. Issues an internal memo detailing his ideas for a “Mickey Mouse Park” that seems influenced by the attractions he saw in Chicago and Dearborn.

1949 Builds a 1/8th-scale railroad in his backyard.

1950 Visits Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, Denmark, and is impressed with its high standards for cleanliness, guest service, and entertainment value. Returns with a mechanical bird that fascinates him. Hires illustrator Harper Goff, who will later help Disney visualize his amusement park plans.
Assigns animator Ken Anderson to develop a traveling exhibit with miniature scenes intended to bring American folklore and history to life. Works on the scenes himself and attempts to animate them mechanically.

1953 Asks the Stanford Research Institute to study and propose a location for a park; its suggestion, Anaheim, is a community well positioned in relation to California’s emerging freeway system and population growth.

The proposed cost of building Disneyland exceeds the budget capability of his studio, so Disney seeks outside funding from television networks, proposing to produce a weekly series in exchange for the seed money. His brother Roy goes to New York City to make the pitch; ABC takes him up on the offer.

1954 A group of Disney’s friends visits fairs, circuses, carnivals, national parks, museums, and amusement parks to see what works and what doesn’t. These visits contribute many ideas to Disneyland, but also distinguish it from any other park.

Disneyland, the TV series, debuts in October. Shows feature live-action and animated films associated with the four “lands” of the planned amusement park and interspersed with periodic updates on the park’s construction. Walt Disney himself serves as host.

1955 It takes construction crews just one year and one day to realize most of Walt Disney’s dream, including a 5/8ths-scale railroad encircling the park. On July 17, twenty-two attractions are completed and the gates are opened to visitors. Counterfeit tickets result in a crush of people on the surrounding freeways and inside the park. Live TV coverage catches many miscues. Still, people keep coming; within seven weeks, attendance surpasses one million.

Disney wastes no time in improving the park; by August, the Dumbo the Flying Elephants ride attraction is introduced, with Flight Circle, Hobbyland, and the Mickey Mouse Club Circus opening that fall..

1959 A replica of the Matterhorn is built, with bobsleds racing around and through it. Visitors are also treated to a new Submarine Voyage ride attraction and a monorail system.

1963 New Orleans Square, the first new “land” to be added to Disneyland, opens. 1963 The Enchanted Tiki Room in “Adventureland” becomes the proving ground for Walt’s ongoing experiments with a technology he later callspioneered and named Audio-Animatronics®.

1965 The human Audio-Animatronics® figure of Abraham Lincoln is a big hit at the 1964 World’s Fair. A new, second-generation President Lincoln figure appears at Disneyland in time for Independence Day. The next year, the last-minute addition of a Disney-designed World’s Fair attraction for UNICEF—“it’s a small world”—makes the trip to California as well.

1966 New Orleans Square, the first new “land” to be added to Disneyland, opens.

1966 Walt Disney dies in December at age 65.

1967 “Pirates of the Caribbean,” the park’s most advanced Audio-Animatronics attraction, opens in New Orleans Square. In an effort to stay fresh, “Tomorrowland” is redesigned with the WEDway People Mover at its center.

1971 The 100-millionth guest enters Disneyland, just 16 years after its opening. Roy Disney dies in December.

1977 “Space Mountain” the first indoor roller coaster presented entirely in the dark, debuts at Disneyland.

1979 “Frontierland” benefits from the introduction of the “Big Thunder Mountain Railroad” roller coaster.

1983 A revised “Fantasyland” includes classic adventures (“Snow White’s Scary Adventure®,” “Peter Pan’s Flight®,” “Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride®”) equipped with new, three-dimensional facades.

1987 A collaboration with filmmaker George Lucas results in a “Star Wars” attraction.

1989 Disneyland introduces its first water ride: Splash Mountain.

1993 The movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit, jointly produced by the Disney Company and Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment, inspires a new attraction at Disneyland: “Mickey’s Toontown.”

1995 Indiana Jones™ Adventure rises over “Adventureland,” the result of another collaboration with George Lucas.

1999 “Tarzan’s Treehouse®” opens, replacing the 1962 “Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse.”

2001 A second theme park opens on the Anaheim property: Disney’s California Adventure.

2002 The fourth land in Disney’s California Adventure park—“a bug’s land”—opens, drawing inspiration from the Disney/Pixar film A Bug’s Life. New attractions include “Flik’s Flyers,” “Heimlich’s Chew Chew Trai,” and “Francis’ Ladybug Boogie.”

2003 The new Broadway-style live show, Disney’s Aladdin—A Musical Spectacular premieres at Disney’s California Adventure. Imagineers test Lucky the Dinosaur, the first free-roaming Audio-Animatronics® figure at the park. Time Magazine names Disney Innovator of the Year.

2004 Disneyland’s 500-millionth guest arrives.

2005 Disney parks around the globe celebrate Disneyland’s 50th anniversary with new parades, attractions, and live entertainment.

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Back to the main Behind the Magic Press Release

Behind the Magic was developed by The Henry Ford in association with Walt Disney Imagineering, a division of Walt Disney Parks & Resorts. Produced and managed by ExhibiTour, LLC.

The Oakland Museum of California exhibition received generous support from the Oakland Museum Women’s Board and Ron and Diane Miller.

USA TODAY is the official media partner of Behind the Magic—50 Years of Disneyland. USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co, Inc. (NYSE: GCI) is the nation's top-selling newspaper and is headquartered in McLean, VA. USA TODAY has an average daily circulation of 2.3 million and is available worldwide. The USA TODAY brand also includes: USA TODAY Sports Weekly, USATODAY.com, and USA TODAY LIVE.